Vocabulary for comprehension

Try to guess the meaning of these words from your knowledge of English, or use a dictionary. In each set of words, cross out the word or phrase that is not similar in meaning to the first word or phrase. Compare your answers with those of another student. Discuss the relationship between the words in each set.

I. stressed	tense	pressured	relaxed
2. depressed	stressed	sad	unhappy
3. telecommuter	person who	person who	person who
	works from	seldom commutes	commutes
	home	to work	to work
4. flexible	adjust	able to change	can’t bend
5. cure	solution	answer	problem
6. isolated	joined	alone	separated
7. cope with	be afraid of	manage	deal with
face-to-face	over the phone	in person	in the same room
9. relocate	find something	move to another	change the city
	you lost	place to live	you live in because of work
10. desocialize	participate in	not join in	break away
	society	society	from society

READING ONE

A. INTRODUCING THE TOPIC

Read the first two paragraphs of the magazine article below. First write your answers to these questions. Then discuss your ideas with the class. What advantages might Helene McQuade have in staying home to work for her company? What disadvantages might she have?

Now read the rest of the article.

GOING HOME TO WORK

1 “I felt I was spending my life on the road,” said editor Helene McQuade. For five and a half years she spent three hours a day driving to and from her job at a magazine. When she married her husband, Jack, she moved into his home in the country. She didn’t want to quit her job, so she continued to work. But her office was in the city, 75 miles away. She left the house at 6:00 A.M. five days a week and got home each night at 7:30 P.M. By the time she got home each night, she felt tired, stressed, and depressed. And things only got worse when she and her husband had a baby.

2. McQuade finally decided to quit her job. But her boss asked her to continue working for the company. He said she could stay in the country and work at home. She only had to drive into the city once a week to pick up and deliver her work or attend meetings. McQuade agreed to try it.

3. Today fewer people in the United States drive to work. Like Helene McQuade, they have stopped commuting to work. They stay home. They have not lost their jobs or started their own companies - they are a new type of employee: the telecommuter. Over 5 million working people in the U.S. divide their work between home and the office. Some work mostly at home, and some work at home half the time and in the office half the time. Today, with a modern system of communications, many people can work anywhere. An individual only needs a supportive boss and a well-equipped office: a telephone and an answering machine, a computer and a printer, a copier, a fax machine, and a modem. Researchers predict that, in just a few years, 41 percent of workers in the United States will telecommute. Driving to work may soon become something from the past.

4. Employees like telecommuting because they can have a more flexible working schedule. They can start to work when they want. They can work in the evening and go out in the morning or the afternoon. They don’t have to spend as much time sitting in highway traffic. They can take advantage of the fresh air. Moreover, telecommuting gives working mothers and fathers more time with their families.

5. But telecommuting is not the cure for all working people who feel stressed in their jobs. People who work at home alone often feel isolated. They seldom see people face-to-face. With less time in the office, they may spend most of their working hours alone. They usually spend more time in contact with machines than with human beings, so they sometimes feel lonely.

6. In fact, not everyone makes a good telecommuter. People who telecommute need to make their own work schedule. Some telecommuters report that they work more hours when they are in the comfort of their own homes. In fact, they sometimes think their home is work, and this makes them feel confused. When home and work get confused, people feel as if they never leave work. Some families have problems coping with work at home. For example, the children may not understand that they cannot talk to mom (or dad) when she (or he) is working. In addition, not all jobs or professions can allow telecommuting. An editor of a magazine may be able to spend most of the time working at home. A hospital nurse or school teacher, however, may not.

7. Employers may not accept the idea of telecommuting, either. They may feel a loss of control over employees who work at home. Also, employers often believe that the best work gets done when people work with people. Face-to-face meetings are not possible with telecommuters. Meetings on the phone are not the same. The subtle messages of body language get lost in phone discussions. In addition, when employees work at home, it is not possible to solve problems that need immediate attention. The biggest problem, in fact, may be trust. Can an employer trust the employee to do his or her work without a manager watching? The employer must

choose the right person to telecommute.

2. Yet if employers can manage feeling a loss of control over employees, they may find many advantages. Telecommuting can save money for a business. Running an office will be less expensive if people work at home. Employees will be happier and, as a result, more productive. A California study showed that telecommuters were 20 percent more productive than office workers. Actually, many telecommuters report working ten-hour days, rather than eight-hour days, when they work at home. Another advantage for employers is that they can hire more employees who cannot relocate. If an employee cannot move to where the company is, he or she can telecommute. They can also keep employees who might want to leave the company because of long commutes. If a company can keep its employees, it can save on the money that would be needed to train new employees.

3. The benefits of telecommuting may be even greater for society. If more people work at home, there will be fewer cars on the highways, there will be less gasoline used and less pollution. In addition, if people are able to work at home, more women and workers with disabilities can be hired. As families balance the demands of work and family life, they will be happier and more productive.

4. But again, is telecommuting the perfect solution for society? As people have more opportunities to work at home, many may move to the suburbs or to rural areas. As they move out of the cities, the cities will be left without their employed population. The unemployed people who stay in the cities will not pay taxes to the cities. Therefore there will be less money to maintain the cities’ roads, water supply, electric supply, and so on.

5. There is a more serious problem than maintaining the cities. As people become more comfortable working alone, they may become less social. It’s easier to stay home in comfortable exercise clothes or a bathrobe than to get dressed for yet another business meeting!

6. “I am happy to keep my job and work at home,” says Helene McQuade, “but I feel isolated from my colleagues in the office.” Spending more time with machines than people may also add to this social problem. It has been shown that people have become less polite in their electronic mail (e-mail) communications.

7. Both the crumbling, or breaking down, of our cities and the desocializing of society are not small problems as we consider the possibility of telecommuting.

B. READING FOR MAIN IDEAS

Read each statement and decide if it is true or false. Write T or F.

1. Helene McQuade has become a telecommuter.

2. More and more people in the U.S. are telecommuting.

3. Telecommuting is the perfect solution for all employees.

4. Some employers think there are problems with telecommuting.

5. Telecommuting is helpful to the environment.

6. Socializing will increase with telecommuting.